to: everyone

[ushiri]

[ While he doesn't really like or trust mass broadcasting like this, he's gotten to a point of frustration where he's throwing some amount of caution to the wind: ]

In Thorne there isn't much useful information recorded about their gods, at least not in the castle.

Considering recent events - anyone else having luck in their research? The mirror, the poison berry - have these symbols appeared before?

[ He knows he's not the only one that's been looking for information. ]

Comments

[harmonian]

I've been wondering about this as well. Have you learned anything?

[ushiri]

Nothing beyond the myths that can be found in the castle's library. Not even names.

The symbols aren't familiar to me either.

[harmonian]

Me neither.

I wonder if this was some sort of attack or something from the Singularity...

[righteously]

You're gonna wanna tap on somebody from Solvunn. There's not much on 'em here in Cadens, but a few months back there was a peace summit. All the factions got together and gave out gifts. Solvunn gave out tote bags with charms supposedly representing the old gods. The symbols on them aren't one to one, but they're close enough to give me the jeebs.

[ushiri]

That's odd.

Has anyone been able to sense anything off of these charms? What do they look like exactly?

[righteously]

The design's got an eye, a flower, and a skull on it. Call me crazy, but I'm thinking there might be a little bit of a pattern.

Nobody I know of's picked up any kind of magic on them, but that's not exactly our strong suit over here in Cadens. Might be something to ask a Thornean wizard nerd.

[hextechhead]

I would reach out to Himeka, she recently warned us about the dead rising possibility, before it happened. She has been in Solvunn for a long time, she might have a better idea. Solvunn is heavily steeped in gods.

I'll look in the Free Cities libraries and let you know if I find anything.

-Jayce Talis

[ushiri]

I'll try checking in with her, thank you.

If you don't mind some other questions: how did the Free Cities fair during all this?

Have you noticed any shrines or signs of any worship in the cities?

I ask because I've noticed almost none in Thorne. I wonder about the reason for the lack of it.

[hextechhead]

I assume we faired as much as anyone else in terms of emotional damage. We've mostly tried to go back to business as usual. Libertas was the focal point of a lot of the dead rising, unsurprisingly, although we had some in the graveyards here.

No, Free Cities is not religiously based, it is an industrial and academic place mostly. I haven't seen any shrines or signs of worship. I assume there are people who have their own beliefs, they might have shrines in their house.

I have read there's a type of magic based on the gods, or asking the gods for blessings, called High Magic but it's considered old and superstitious here. I don't know if the recent happenings will change any thoughts on this yet.

-Jayce Talis

[ordinar]

It's weird that you can't find much about their gods. Isn't that pretty much the main thing people have written about for most of history?

[ushiri]

It's strange to me too, given how vast the library here is. I guess there's a lot there if you're only looking for vague myths and fairy tales, but there's almost nothing about religious practice or history.

Do you follow any particular faith from your home?

[ordinar]

Kind of. I mean, I go to church. I don't know

I don't know how much I subscribe to all of it.

[There's something to be said for the awkward intersection between queer and Christian, but then again there's also something to be said for the fact that, as he learned a few weeks ago, the literal Devil is walking around here. So...you know.]

[thedevilwhorose]

[speaking of]

As against minor deities as I am, I think it would be a good time to throw up a ritual space in Thorne to commune with the gods just to see what would happen, since Thorne seems so... perhaps not against it, but...

[ushiri]

Do you know how to put effective wards around something like that?

[ Because accidentally summoning them again wouldn't be great. ]

[thedevilwhorose]

I don't, but my roommate might.

[he's not about putting names on the network, and Kyle knows who he rooms with]

[funbreaker]

Here I thought I was just missing something. The distinct lack of any tomes about the gods in the castle library seems rather strange, doesn't it?

[ushiri]

If you look hard enough you can find some references here and there, but nothing particularly useful.

I've meant to check elsewhere, but that requires coin, and I find myself severally lacking in that right now.

[ And Thorne, for all the wonderful accommodations and food, doesn't offer a stipend. But with his work lining up, that should change soon. ]

[funbreaker]

How much coin would this endeavor entail?

[ Thancred doesn't have a steady line of work, but he is quite capable of taking odd jobs here and there. He and Urianger have been managing the rental of their tiny flat well enough. ]

[magicalarchaeologist]

I will reach out to my friend Wanda who is influential in Solvunn.

[ushiri]

[ Sees this, but replying up by Lucifer's comments... ]

[shadowthief]

[It's a little bit like it's her time to shine when this call-out come across her vision while she's perched in the window of Kaz's room- religion, gods, folklore, these are the things that Inej has focused her research on since arriving in this world almost a year ago. At first, it had been because it was a comfort in seeking the familiar. Now, it's more of a mission to understand the cultures they're surrounded by.]

I have two passages discovered when I was in Solvunn, the first I found myself on a scrap of paper tucked away in a book in hurried handwriting-

Ever searching
Ever longing
Lost and greedy
Wails of mourning
What has been found is never enough
Her reach is vast and cutting.

The other, someone else mentioned being told by one of the old-timers, also in Solvunn-

Speaking between the trees yet voiceless,
Dozens of eyes but faceless,
No mouth to feed and always hungry,
fury which could level cities,
His good grace maintains our temperament.

Everything I've ever found or been told about the gods here, though... it all amounts mostly to cautionary tales for children. I know there must be hidden truths in those things, there always are, but they do not make it an easy search. Cadens' people aren't keen on the gods, anyway, they think of them more as relics of a time long past.

[Which is frustrating, but she's learned to deal with it in her time here. There are plenty of dissenters and unbelievers of the Saints back home, too.]

second part is private

[ushiri]

That's
ominous

[ The next message is sent directly and only visible to her. ]

It sounds like the speech of Oracles. They passed down prophecy wrapped up in riddles.

Do your people believe in demons?

[shadowthief]

To say the least. Finding anything beyond it has so far not gone well.

[Private]

I wonder if Lady Elin in Nochwich might know more that she'd be willing to discuss.

[True fortune tellers are rare, but revered by her people. To say she respected the woman was an understatement.]

Yes.
...Why?

[carmesi]

Istredd told me you were asking about the gods. Those in Solvunn have spoken some about them, but not with too much detail. Many here keep insisting to be wary of traveling without invitation to the other settlements. That the gods are as hungry as they are protective.

They have given out charms to the newly summoned before, too. A butterfly with too many wings. A long-horned creature with large wings, the God of the Herd. I'm... not sure how to spell its name. Vielehauf?

I will ask around.

[ushiri]

Thank you. Someone else who'd been in Solvunn mentioned a hungry god with no mouth. Sounds like there's a few ominous common themes.

Also I apologize if you've had a blonde-furred visitor digging holes near your domain. It looks like we share a border.